"Feminist" Weddings: The Way Of The Future?

"Feminist" Weddings: The Way Of The Future?

When it comes to feminism, it's always been our policy that it's all about choice. If you want your life to reflect more traditional gender roles and it's 100% your decision, then go for it. Same goes if you want to burn a pile of bras on a weekly basis and spell 'women' with a y. Either way, you do you, and don't judge anyone else if they opt for a different path. But when it comes to weddings, is there a "right" way to do it if you're a forward-thinking lady? The Daily Mail is salaciously documenting a new trend it calls "the rise of the feminist wedding," based on a survey of some 200 British brides conducted by Elki Parmar of WeddingDays.co.uk.

The findings include such mundane things like the fact that a quarter of the women surveyed plan to keep their names after marriage, and one in ten will wear a color other than white on their big day. However, results also showed that more and more women are rejecting veils and asking not to be given away on their walk down the aisle — though overall, 76% said they'd still take that time-honored stroll. There's no doubt that many of these traditions are rooted in a patriarchal structure that views women as property and insist that brides must be virgins, but we like to think that these days, we're advanced enough to reinterpret the very same conventions in a modern way. And there are certainly women out there who, regardless of tradition, would want to include their fathers in the ceremony for emotional reasons. What do you think? Does this trend sound just right to you, or are you balking at the very thought of ditching your fairytale ceremony? (The Daily Mail)